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Obsessive Habits

I obsessively check and recheck things. I’m sort of “OCD” about it.
When I lock a door, I check at least 2 times that it’s locked. Sometimes, I’ll walk away after checking and then come back to check again. I didn’t know I did this until a friend said something along these lines to me one day, “how many times are you going to check the door? It can’t be any more locked that the last time you checked”.

When I plug earphones into my phone, I put one in my ear to be sure that the earphones are plugged in properly and the music isn’t playing out loud without my knowledge; then I put the second one in my ear. After a few minutes, you may find me taking out one to check again.
When I put my wallet in my bag and start to zip up the bag, I look at the wallet until my bag is fully closed. More often than not, I’ll open the bag again immediately and check that the wallet hasn’t magically disappeared. Sometimes, I’ll leave my finger on the wallet as I close it and take it out just before I fully close the bag so I can be sure it’s in there.
When I set an alarm on my phone, I will check that I really set it at least 3 times before bed.
When I put my phone on silent, I’ll check over and over again too. I’ll put the phone in my pocket, bring it out, check. I’ll put it back in my pocket, wait a few minutes, bring it out and check again.
When I do CTRL+C on my computer, I do it at least 3 times to be sure I’ve really copied the text. I cannot count the amount of colleagues that have pointed this out to me.
When I write something, I reread it over and over and over again.
When I want to say something, I will oftentimes say the words and roll them this way and that in my head till I say them. When I eventually say them out loud, I will most probably review what I said in my head and think about if it sounded right or if I should have said it in a different way. I also do this with actions so I review what I want to do before doing it and after doing it, I think about if I should have done it or how else I should have done it. (I guess you can already tell how indecisive I must be).
When I want to post a picture/video on Snapchat or Instagram, I criticize it and over analyze it. I will often ask my sisters/friends what they think before posting. (Don’t even get me started on captions). When I eventually post, you will catch me staring at the post for a long time. I’m asking myself if it was really good enough to post or if I could have used a better filter or a better caption or if I should have posted a different picture. In fact, I’m probably contemplating deleting it!
These are just a few examples. I do many other things along these lines.

I don’t know why but I just like to over check things. I like to be sure. I don’t like to make mistakes.
Some of these things have stemmed from past experiences. For example, I once was on a bus listening to music with earphones and I didn’t know they weren’t plugged in properly so everyone on the bus could hear the music. (Don’t you hate it when people play music from their phones out loud in public places with strangers?). I once did CTRL+C and the text didn’t copy; ended up sending the wrong message to someone.
Another thing I think that caused this is that I am forgetful.
There was a time when I could not shake people’s hands without thinking of the germs and I used to run through a bottle of sanitizer in less than a week.

In church when the pastor says “shake 5 people and tell them they’re welcome to church”, I wouldn’t shake anyone; and if I unavoidably had to, I’d put my hands in the bag and sanitize them as unnoticeably as I could.

Things that I knew could potentially carry germs, like doorknobs and money, seriously irked me.

I don’t know how I made it through that phase but one day, I realized I hadn’t used hand sanitizer in the longest time.
In the same vein, I’m hoping that my obsessive checking and rechecking slows down or stops some day because honestly, it makes me look very cuckoo sometimes to innocent bystanders.Do you have any obsessive habits? Please share!

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13 thoughts on “Obsessive Habits”

I have some obsessive habits, especially when I’m cleaning. I will go over it multiple times to make sure it is clean. 🙈 I think if it severely hinders one’s life, then it can be a problem. How do you think you can overcome it?

You’ve just described me perfectly especially concerning germs. I’m a catholic and every mass we usually shake hands with ourselves. I dread whenever the priest says, “Let us turn to each other with the sign of peace”,especially when there is someone next to me who has been coughing and sneezing. Eww.

This is sooooo me! I quadruple check everything, it’s exhausting omg. I turn on the kettle switch to boil water, and I have to go back like 3trips because I keep forgetting whether I turned on the switch or not. Same with everything else! Wallet in bag..keys..money..